Purdue University professor Charles R. Santerre has been named a senior policy adviser in the in The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

Santerre, a professor of food toxicology, will advise the Executive Office of the President on policies related to biotechnology, agriculture, rural prosperity and food safety.

"Dr. Santerre has a distinguished track record in all three of our land-grant missions of discovery, learning, engagement focused on ensuring the safety of our food supply. We are proud to see that Dr. Santerre will be an adviser to our nation's leaders on food
safety and other important agricultural issues so they have the best scientific insights to make policy decisions," said Jay Akridge, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity.

According to an OSTP statement, Santerre along with other policy councils, will help develop administration policies in these areas of specialization that reflect the president's key priorities of national security, economic prosperity for all Americans, and reducing
overly burdensome regulations. He will also help coordinate interagency work, primarily through the National Science and Technology Council, to ensure that federal efforts related to biotechnology and agriculture are well coordinated, not duplicative, and tap
into the right expertise from across the federal research and development enterprise.

He will also help drive much of OSTP's scientific work identified in the administration's recent Rural Prosperity Task Force Report, which presented over 100 recommendations for the federal government to consider in order to help improve life in rural America.
President Trump established the Rural Prosperity Task Force by Executive Order in April 2017 in order to identify legislative, regulatory and policy changes to promote agriculture, economic development, job growth, infrastructure improvements, technological
innovation, energy security, and quality of life in rural America.

Santerre's previous engagement efforts have helped policymakers, regulators, agriculture industry representatives, health-care professionals and consumers better understand genetically-enhanced foods. On these topics, he has delivered more than 215 technical
presentations nationally and internationally on food biotechnology and food safety. He continues to work closely with policymakers and regulators to bring science into the decision-making process, and he is a noted media source who has participated in more
than 300 interviews.